​Ollie Orange Leaf had spent much of his life trying to fit in. He wanted to go to church, but he didn’t think he could fit in.

He heard about a new church called Life Church and he even met some of the people who attended there and they were exactly what he wanted to be. Blue and beautiful. The friendly people of Life Church invited him but he didn’t know how he could fit in such a beautiful blue leaf tree church.

If I come, maybe I will stay at the edge of the tree and nobody will notice. Who am I kidding? he thought to himself on his first Sunday. Who doesn’t notice an orange leaf on a blue tree?

He thought that maybe if he came to the tree at night the darkness would hide his orangeness.

But instead, it just made him stand out all the more. He felt like an ugly orange flame standing out in an amazing blue fire.

The other leaves at Life Tree Church told Ollie that he was beautiful, but when he looked in the mirror he just saw a Big Ugly Orange Leaf

Ollie was excited, however, because he found out about a University named Orange University. Of course he decided to go. “I will finally fit in” he said.”

He couldn’t wait to get there and sure enough, the entire school was orange and he couldn’t wait to go look in a mirror to see himself finally fitting in and so he ran to a mirror and looked at the Orange University Tree and his mouth dropped down in horror at what he saw. It was true that the University was Orange but all of the leaves there were white which looks beautiful at Orange Tree University, except that Ollie’s leaf was Blue!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO he cried! I don’t fit in here either: When I am in a blue leaf tree I am orange and when I go to Orange University I’m blue.

The following Sunday, he came back to Life Church and the other leaves there sensed that Ollie was very sad

They surrounded him and put him right in the center of the tree and let him know that they cared about him very much.

Even at night time, they made a circle around him and told him how beautiful that he was.

Finally, one of the blue leaves spoke to all of the other leaves and said. I want to teach us something from the maker of all Trees Book. This book tells us everything that we need to know about leaves and trees.

The tree maker sees the world different from the way that we do. The tree maker tells us that every leaf on every tree sees themselves as different from all the other leaves. If a tree is full of blue leaves, each individual leaf will think that they are orange while the rest of the leaves look blue to them. Ollie was shocked. Surely all those other blue leaves didn’t think they were orange too! But then the leaves began talking to each other. What color am I? asked Patsy the leaf to another leaf? Why blue of course. No I’m not. I’m Patsy the purple leaf. No you are blue. Another leaf named Rosie near the bottom of the tree called out to Ollie. What color am I? Why blue of course said Ollie. No I’m not! I’m Rosie the red leaf. I’m as red as an apple. No you’re not. You are blue. Rosie laughed at the thought of being blue. Ollie asked her, “And what color do you think I am? Why blue of course said Rosie. Ollie laughed. I wish I was blue. I’m as orange as a tangerine. No you aren’t! she exclaimed back to him.

At that they were interrupted by the voice of the one who had been teaching from the book. You are all right. Some of you are orange, others are purple, some are red, some are black, and some are white, but together you form the beautiful blue life tree.

The maker of trees sees both our individual colors and he also sees the beautiful blue united tree that we all make when we come together. Each of you thinks that your color makes you ugly, but the Maker of Trees says that your individual color is what makes you beautiful. When you are not in your place on the tree, the tree suffers. Each of us must play our part in order to make this the beautiful tree that brings food and healing to the rest of the world. We need every color of the rainbow on the tree because each of you is a color that the rest of the world needs and together you form the most beautiful tree in the world.

And then sensing that Ollie needed to personally understand this truth, the teacher turned to Ollie and said. Until today, I didn’t even know you saw yourself as orange Ollie, to me you have always just been blue. But this tree needs and orange leaf and nobody can be that leaf besides you.

At that something inside of Ollie leaped for joy! I’m orange I’m orange he shouted. But together we are blue. At that, Ollie ran back to his spot on the tree that he knew that only he could fill. He knew that for the tree to be healthy it, needed him to be as orange as he could be. However, when others looked up at Ollie, and all of the other colorful leaves on the tree, they only saw Blue.

The End

We're a non-denominational Christian church in Knoxville, Tennessee that believes that all people matter and should experience the love and power that comes along with a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ.